Digestive tracts of 779 red porgy, Pagrus pagrus, 46 to 625 mm total length, collected by hook and line and trawl off North Carolina and South Carolina from May 1972 through April 1974 were examined. Ninety-seven percent of the specimens contained food representing 69 taxa of
organisms. Seventy-four percent of the foods (and 60% of the volume) of adult Pagrus was composed of obligate benthic animals and approximately 90% of the diet was of organisms which live near the bottom. Invertebrates represented primarily by crustaceans, mollusks, and echinoderms,
occurred in 89% of the adult fish. Crabs, mainly majids, portunids, and calappids were the predominant food by both frequency of occurrence and volume. Fish representing 14 families occurred in 24% of the stomachs and comprised 15% of the food volume of adult red porgy. While larger juveniles,
130 to 162 mm total length, ingested similar foods as adults, small juveniles, 46–64 mm, fed on amphipods, copepods, stomatopods, and annelids. Slight differences in frequency occurrence of organisms in the diet were noted between geographical areas, depths, and seasons. Size of red
porgy produced a more pronounced effect on the diet.

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Document Type: Research Article

Publication date: 1977-10-01

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